Sunday, January 20, 2013

Have we finally had it with war games???

This glorious white peacock was spotted by my daughter Arundhati in Juhu last week! He appeared.... almost like a vision.... and she clicked him quickly! It was a good omen , I told her. And I swear everything is suddenly better! Thank you, peacock!

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This appeared in Sunday Times today....

Have we finally
had it with war games??

Have
we finally had it? Or.... are we being had? Last week was a particularly disturbing one.The number of
mixed signals coming our way from assorted sources, added to the aggravation.
Suddenly, the trauma of rape was out and Pakistani atrocities were in. The
deeply shocking story of Lance Naik Hemraj Singh’s brutal beheading took over
every conceivable space in media. And we had gauche, inarticulate anchors
blabbing away incoherently about how ‘bizarre’ and ‘obnoxious’ all this was…
and how India must retaliate. Retaliate? How? Sushma Swaraj promptly provided
an answer . Rashly and impetuously she thundered that for every Indian head we
lose to Pakistan, we should bring back ten! Coming from a senior politician,
this was a seriously dumb statement. Fortunately, the average citizen’s
response was far more sober, intelligent and considered. Soon we had a
cacophony of voices banging on about the signals we need to send out to our
neighbor…. to America…. to the world. Nobody made much sense, least of all our
Prime Minister who finally opened his mouth to declare it was ‘not business as
usual’ with Pakistan. Really? No kidding! Everybody wanted to know what exactly
he meant by that ambiguous, entirely vague remark. What ‘business’? What is
‘usual’ when it comes to Pakistan? As always, it was left to Pakistani
spokespersons to smoothly ride over the crisis… pass the buck… and move on. All
of this while the perfectly matched chiffon dupatta stayed demurely in place without once slipping off the coiffed head.
The Birkin offensive worked – yet again!

Meanwhile, our bewildered citizens suddenly
discovered the identities of a few hitherto unknown top brass of the army, who
came out guns blazing, all bristling moustaches and belligerent words. “They
fire.We fire,” declared Army Chief Gen.Bikram Singh. While one gentleman spoke
about retaliatory action ‘at the appropriate time’ ( and when would that be,
Sir?). The other spoke ominously about his ‘hope’ that our government would
extend support to the army. Huh? Iska
matlab? Were we meant to read between the lines and draw our own conclusions?
Was the Government holding back on required support? And support for what? Did
a Lt.Gen need to send out such a crucial message using television channels to
convey it? Who was this message meant for? Those in power in Delhi? Their counterparts in
Pakistan? The Americans , who are once again leaning just that much more
towards our (un) friendly neighbours these days? The world at large? Bhagwan
only knows.

Meanwhile, our hard working anchors were
relentlessly at it . An emotional storm was being systematically whipped up.
Panelists were frothing at the mouth. And everybody was in overdrive covering
the grisly minutae of the heinous beheading and milking every tiny detail in a
way that was embarrassing,morbid and insensitive.Suddenly, Nirbhaya and those
67 daily rapes across India – the ones that get reported – became stale news.
There were no new angles to exploit. India had swiftly moved on. Hemraj Singh
was the new martyr. And Pakistan had to be whipped once more in public.The
flogging seems to be on hold for now. Pakistani actress Meera has planned a
peace march in Delhi.Her agenda involves the granting of 5 year visas to
Pakistani artists, and has nothing to do with heavier issues. A particularly
clumsy gesture involved Pakistani hockey players being unceremoniously packed
off. Raj Thackeray got into the act and accused our government of playing up
the beheading of a brave soldier as a diversionary tactic.The rather pathetic
truth is that countless people believed Raj! That’s how low our morale is right
now. We are prepared to accept the worst charges against the ruling class. Even
charges as grim as this one. Lots of loud noises later, the Hemraj story , too,
is limping along, with non-committal comments from both sides of the border,
after the shrill ‘war-mongering’ charges made by the beauteous Ms. Birkin
herself. Everybody is ‘backing off ’.The daily routine of strutting and posturing is over.Soon it will
indeed be back to business as usual. Sorry, Manmohan Singh.You’ll have to come
up with a better line… and quickly at that!

19 comments:

Solders die for a matter of ongoings interests (be it one, or ten, or a hundred of them - eventually, this is what they are intended for), politicians play as being entangled in a web of power game way beyond soldiers' comprehension, crowd shouts for retaliation (bread and circuses principle), of which it will forget next week - all goes the way it is supposed to be. Every part of society performs the way it is supposed to.

i loved the pic ,really beautiful and well shot!i know you are against war it helps no one...agree our dear prime minister should be a bit aggresive(i think he should wear red color it helps)it will help him to comeup with betterline....and quickly at that!Tons of love to Gong li darling!

War is the blessing, propelling engine for development to be regularly employed once in a while through da timespan, and these are fat-witted vegans who live in their crystal tower of ignorance not being able to see it. Blessed you are, mother India, for not letting your children to reach the point of eating.....during actual full-scale war. Blessed are the ignorant.)

sorry for littering the column again but... Tinu Sir, would your mom be so generously kind to expire today itself? You would be busy with her funerals and not with sending ads for at least next several days nah.

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